AN - hello again! it's me! I'm back, after about two weeks. from now on, my regular update day will usually be a thursday, and there will always be something new on a thursday - this i promise. there may also however, depending on how well I'm doing writing this, be new stuff at other times as well. see you at the bottom! enjoy!

disclaimer for all chapters (because i CANNOT be bothered to write the same thing for every chapter) - I do not own this. i do not own these characters. i do not own these locations. i do not own anything in the whole world apart from the plot and about £2.50. I don't even have any GCSE's yet!

also - this is a sequel to my other story But Life Happened. you need to read that first in order for this to make any sense. happy reading!

Brothers of Destiny

No Magic or No Us

Merlin was sleeping - again. I suppose it wasn't really that unusual, given the last few weeks, but it still annoyed me. I needed to talk to him. Now.

I'd been procrastinating, not wanting to talk about it, not wanting to have to face what it might mean. For us, our friendship, or for the kingdom.

It had been about a week since Merlin had first woken up after he…died. He had been awake on and off after that, and never for more than about three hours at a time. But there had always been masses of people milling around, and I needed to talk to him privately.

"Merlin!" I hissed "Merlin!"

He groaned and opened his eyes "Arthur?"

"I need to talk to you." I told him insistently.

"Hold on." he told me sleepily. Slowly, he sat up and rested his back on the wall behind him. "Yes?" he asked, not completely amused with me waking him up this early.

"Gwaine!" I called out of the door. Slowly, he entered, and grinned at Merlin.

"Gwaine!" he said, shocked. I knew for a fact that Gwaine hadn't come to see Merlin once in his recovery, apart from when he had first woken up. What I didn't know was why. And it needed, along with other things, to be sorted out.

"Now" I said firmly "we are going to talk sensibly and calmly like adults, with no big fusses made, and no voices raised."

"About what?" Merlin asked.

"Everything." I said firmly.

Gwaine looked shocked. "Everything!? That's a pretty large area to cover, Arthur. Why don't we just stick to the events of the last few weeks?"

The question made both him and Merlin laugh, which was so good to see that I cracked a smile too.

"You know what I mean, Gwaine." I told him "we need to talk about the battle and afterwards." the colour had drained from Merlin's face. Clearly, he hadn't confronted his demons from the battle yet.

"Now." I said "Lets start at the beginning." I turned to face Merlin. "Your death."

"What about it?" he asked brusquely.

"What happened?" Gwaine asked gently. Merlin's face softened as he looked into Gwaine's, and I got the impression that Merlin was got to be far more willing to open up considering that Gwaine had asked the question rather than me.

Merlin let out a long breath. "Okay." he said eventually "How much did Gaius tell you?"

"All of it." I said simply " All of it from Lady Helena right up until the battle."

"So you know about Freya?"

I winced. "Yes, we do." I began "And can I just say how sorry I am…"

Merlin cut me off.

"Arthur." he said firmly. "I told you before - I forgave you for it all years ago. So leave it."

There was no real way to reply to this, so I simply said "Thank you."

"Now." Merlin said "One more thing." I got the feeling that now he knew he would actually have to talk about it, he wanted to get it all out. And I certainly wasn't going to stop him.

He addressed both of us "What do you know About the Lake of Avalon?" Gwaine gasped.

"No!" he said. "No way! You were at the Lake of Avalon?"

"Hold it." I asked. "What's the Lake of Avalon?"

"The Lake of Avalon" said Merlin sadly "is the place people go upon their death. No mortal has ever seen it."

"But you…" I began

"I am no mere mortal" he interrupted calmly. "I'm not boasting, but that's the truth. I will most likely live a lot longer than either of you." he looked sad at this, and shot Gwaine a thoughtful look, before continuing.

"I ended up at the Lake of Avalon - with Freya." I gasped

"Oh, Merlin"

"She told me" he continued without looking up "that it wasn't my time to die yet, and that you, Arthur, would need my help to build Albion."

Gaius had explained the legends to me, so I wasn't maybe as surprised as Merlin had thought I would be, however, if I was, he didn't comment on it.

"Then I woke up on the pyre." he said simply "And you know the rest."

And I did.

"So." said Gwaine, and we both looked at him. "What do we do now?" Merlin looked thoughtful for a minute. "Now" he said "We lay everything out on the table and assess the situation. But" he continued, holding up a finger "Not right now. I'm actually still recovering, and am really tired. Besides, Gaius said I should be up by tomorrow at the latest anyway."

"But if you're still recovering…." Gwaine began, but Merlin simply said "Magic" and left it at that.

"So - tomorrow?" I broke the silence.

"Tomorrow" Merlin confirmed, smiling.

Tomorrow came around a lot sooner than any of us had expected, and soon we were all sitting together, but in my chambers this time rather than Merlin's cramped room.

"Okay." said Merlin "So I'll start." he took a deep breath.

"So, everything I said on the battlefield was true, and I mean everything. But, for you to truly understand why I am the way I am, you need a bit of history. And some of it," he looked at me "You're not going to like.

So, it really starts about 30 years ago, before any of us were born and magic was still free in the land. Now, Queen Ygraine was unable to conceive a child, and she and you father, Arthur, the King, were desperate.

So Uther spoke to Nimeuh, who was, at the time, Camelot's court sorcerer." I gasped. I hadn't expected this at all.

"Nimeuh gave Uther what he wanted, but warned him that there would be a price to pay. She told him that in order for a life to be created, one would have to be given. But he didn't care. He was just thrilled that he would finally have an heir.

And so, Arthur" he said to me, a look of sorrow on his face. "You were conceived, with the aid of magic. Have no doubt, you are definitely your parents children, you just didn't…..come about in the usual way.

But Uther paid for his careless disregard of what would be taken from him. For, Arthur, as you grew inside your mother, she became weaker, and upon your birth, her life was taken to replace yours." Merlin didn't look at me, and just kept talking. Gwaine had been silent the entire time.

"Uther, blinded with rage that his beloved wife had been taken from him, turned on Nimeuh. He said that she had known that Ygraine would die. Nimeuh protested, and there was no way that she could have known whose life would be taken. But your father still blamed her, banishing her from Camelot, along with magic in any form. This marked the start of the Great Purge."

Merlin took a deep breath and looked up at last, an indescribable expression on his face.

"Now." he began again. "This does have a point, so bear with me.

Magic is a part of nature. It always will be. It's like…..it's like water. If you were to drain several lakes and rivers, the water wouldn't just disappear. It would be diverted elsewhere.

With so many magic users being killed, their magic had nowhere to go. Usually, it just passes on to another when they learn, but no-one was learning, because they were frightened. At the same time, so much magic was being released because of the death of its users, that there was no where for it to go." He took a deep breath. "So it came to me. I don't know why, possibly because my father was a Dragonlord, but all of the free magic floating around was transferred into me.

Some people learn magic, others have it develop later in life, but they can usually ignore it."

I looked me straight in the eye. "I, however, am the only one I am aware of that has had the power from the moment they were born."

I gasped at the inclinations of this. "But that would mean…"

"That I was doomed to Camelot's law's the moment I was born? Yes. Luckily, I was born in Cenrid's kingdom, but that's only on the border." he looked at me again "I honestly tried for a time, Arthur, not to use my magic, when I was a child, but it nearly killed me. Without an outlet, the power dove inwards and began attacking my major organs. In order to comply with Camelot's laws, I nearly killed myself. Also, I am the most powerful magic that ever has or ever will live, and effectively the leader of the druids. They call me Emrys" he looked quite abashed at this, and I was about to change the subject, but Gwaine got there first.

"Okay." he asked "But what about me?"

Merlin appeared to contemplate this for a minute "Hmmmm." he said "I'm not entirely sure about you, Gwaine. I think, to full understand, we need to talk to the dragon.. I can try to help you, though. First of all we need to work out what you are."

"What?" Gwaine looked startled.

"What kind of classification of magic user you are." he clarified." You're not a Warlock, as you weren't born with magic, I gave it to you. At the same time, you didn't learn it, either, so you're not a sorcerer."

"What are you?" he asked Merlin curiously. I though I knew this one so I answered "A warlock?"

"Sort of." he said. He also looked a bit worried. "Technically, I am a warlock, but I'm also - not strictly speaking - human. I literally am magic. If it were to die, I would die with it. I am a creature of magic, just like the dragons."

"Ah, yes" said Gwaine. "The dragon. I have a bone to pick with you, Merlin. Why the hell didn't you tell me he was that annoying!"

Merlin laughed. He looked thrilled. Gwaine did not.

"So it's not just me he's like that with!" exclaimed Merlin "That's fantastic. As a matter of interest, how did he address you, Gwaine?"

"As Sir Gwaine." Merlin's jaw dropped.

"You mean he used your name!? Now that's not fair. He always calls me 'Young Warlock' in that annoying creepy voice of his."

They both laughed, and then, suddenly, Merlin winced. "Apparently," he said "Kilgharrah disliked my description of his annoying creepy voice."

Gwaine laughed again, but I was shocked. "You can hear him!?" I asked weakly "In your head?"

"Yeah." Merlin laughed "I can also speak to anyone like this, although they can't reply unless they have magic too."

"So eventually" Gwaine surmised "We'll be able to talk telepathically?" he asked Merlin.

"Sort of" said Merlin.

"So that's you two." I said. "But what about me?"

"That, Arthur," said Merlin heavily "is entirely up to you." he looked me square in the face .

"You have to decide whether to kick us out, or to accept magic. Because, Arthur, there isn't any other way. You couldn't jus ignore it, not now you know, it wouldn't be fair. For any of us. So you need to decide." He exchanged a glance with Gwaine, who nodded.

"No magic or no us."

I looked at them both. I mean really looked at them.

I looked at Merlin, and saw, yes, the most powerful magic user that would ever live and just by being here was against at least half the laws in Camelot, but also my life saver (literally), my best friend. My brother.

And then I looked at Gwaine. Gwaine, who would give up his life without second thought for either of us in an instant. Gwaine who had proclaimed Merlin his first ever friend. Gwaine who had been banished for saving my life. I decided.

"Tomorrow morning" I announced "the law on the ban on magic will be repealed. From now on, only evil magic will be punished. All others will be free."

Merlin's response was so unexpected, that I was stunned into silence.

He leapt forward and hugged me.

After twenty seconds or so, I began to get quite uncomfortably. I could also see Gwaine smirking.

"Erm..Merlin?"

He let go at last, looking faintly embarrassed.

"Er…sorry." he said sheepishly. "But I've been waiting for that for about ten years now."

I was stunned at that. I couldn't imagine anything being so important that I would wait ten years for it, let alone if it was that my existing was to become legal. Something else had piqued my curiosity, though

"Er…Merlin?" I asked. He looked at me. "Could you….could you show me some magic?" I asked him. His face split into the widest grin I had ever seen and he nodded wildly.

Cautiously, he held out his hand, and a flame appeared on it. It was then that I remembered what Gaius had said about him not needing to speak the spells he was using anymore.

He let the flame dance on his palm for a minute, before it shot up into the air, twisting and turning at about eye level. Suddenly, it formed the dragon of the Pendragon crest, before dissolving into sparks. I sat there stunned. After a few minutes, Gwaine broke the silence sufficiently.

"Wow."

Merlin grinned. "All you ever saw was the bad side of magic, Arthur." he told me "But this is some of the good."

And he was right, I realised. But "That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" I breathed, and Merlin grinned again.

"That was nothing." he told me "tomorrow, after magic has been freed, I'll show you something really impressive."

"Ah, yes!" I said "That reminds me. Tomorrow. Merlin, you're fired." he looked up at me, shocked. Gwaine, who I had spoken about this with beforehand shook his head and said "Honestly, Arthur!" I decided to ignore him, and carried on with what I had been saying.

"Instead," I said, ignoring the horrified look on Merlin's face. "I want you to be my Court Sorcerer. If you agree, I'll announce it tomorrow with the repelling of the law."

There was a stunned silence where I thought Merlin was going to hug me again, but instead he said "Thank you, Arthur."

In my head, however, I heard his voice say 'Thank you, my brother.'

I grinned.

AN - did you enjoy it? if so, leave a review! if not, also leave a review! i want to know how I did, as I actually had real trouble starting this. once i started, i was fine, but it was getting started that was the problem.

also - for anyone who is interested - MY LINES COMPETITION IS STILL OPEN, and will be throughout most of this story. basically, to make things interesting, i want you lovely people to give me some lines to use in this story. they can be as wierd or as wacky as you like - I don't care!

some examples that i already have are -

- Gwaine, what are you doing with that parrot?

- Arthur, what are you wearing?

- the Tower of Doom!

please give me some more guys! I'll give you a mention if you do! the same applies for if you review! (which is kind of wierd, because you have to leave a review...in order to give me the line...never mind just go with it :D

-APP